It was exactly one year ago, but the memories still lingers freshly in our minds.
The 6 of us took the Skytrain to Sladang station. We were told to take either a taxi or Tuk Tuk from the station. It took us a while to get 2 Tuk Tuks, we told them "Somboon Seafood", they nodded and off we went.
The unexpected in front of the shark's mouth
5 mins later we arrived at a run down house that had been renovated into a restaurant. We searched for a sign board bearing the name "Somboon" but there were none.
We turned to our Tuk Tuk drivers and asked once again, "This is Somboon?". "Yes Yes, Somboon" they assured us with broken english.
Guests seated outside
It was nicely decorated with hanging lights creating a soothing ambience.
A waitress rushed out to greet us. Unconvinced, we asked the waitress the same question, "Is this Somboon seafood restaurant?". "Yes Yes, Somboon. Come inside please" she replied as she ushered us in.
We were seated at a table inside the house as the waitress left us with some menus with us. We peeked at the price and were shocked out of our heads.
King Lobster - RM230 per KG !!!!
Crabs - RM140 per KG !!!!
I must admit that the decision to dine at Somboon was both our decisions rather than a group decision. We had insisted on coming here after reading rave reviews about this restaurant and its signature dish "Curry Crab" from forums and other visitors. The others in the group merely tagged along so not to disappoint us.
Forums and websites had warned us about Somboon's expensive prices but nothing in the world could prepare us for these exorbitant prices.
The prices here are meant for kings and not paupers. Clearly this restaurant was setup with the intention of cutting the throats of unknowing tourists. And to think I had previously considered myself a shrewd traveller .... haha.
Tom Yum Goong
Imitate Signature Dish - Curry Crab
In the end we rather reluctantly ordered Tom Yum Goong and Curry Crab. That's 1 bowl of Tom Yum Goong and a small plate of Curry Crab to be shared between 6 adults.
It was the most pathetic meal we've ever had. Haha. I can't really recall how much the final bill came to, but I think each person had to pay about 300Baht if i'm not mistaken.
The Curry Crab wasn't half bad for a imitate version of Somboon. *sigh* It was just too little to go around.
Ocean 6 - Not the conman but the conned
This is the forced smile of the 6, with me trying to raise the plate of Curry Crab to make the picture look more pleasant. Believe me, it was really hard to crack a smile knowing this meal's gonna crack a major dent in our shopping budget.
Actually the worst aspect of the whole experience isn't the ridiculously inflated prices of the seafood. It is the fact that after paying so much for a meal, we still didn't know that we've been conned.
In our minds we still thought that we were at "Somboon Seafood Restaurant".
How the outside looks like
So remember folks. If you see a restaurant which resembles this, turn and run away. No matter how good the food is, the price that you'll pay will never be worth it.
Technorati Tags: Bangkok, Food, Somboon, Scam
The 6 of us took the Skytrain to Sladang station. We were told to take either a taxi or Tuk Tuk from the station. It took us a while to get 2 Tuk Tuks, we told them "Somboon Seafood", they nodded and off we went.
The unexpected in front of the shark's mouth5 mins later we arrived at a run down house that had been renovated into a restaurant. We searched for a sign board bearing the name "Somboon" but there were none.
We turned to our Tuk Tuk drivers and asked once again, "This is Somboon?". "Yes Yes, Somboon" they assured us with broken english.
Guests seated outsideIt was nicely decorated with hanging lights creating a soothing ambience.
A waitress rushed out to greet us. Unconvinced, we asked the waitress the same question, "Is this Somboon seafood restaurant?". "Yes Yes, Somboon. Come inside please" she replied as she ushered us in.
We were seated at a table inside the house as the waitress left us with some menus with us. We peeked at the price and were shocked out of our heads.
King Lobster - RM230 per KG !!!!Crabs - RM140 per KG !!!!I must admit that the decision to dine at Somboon was both our decisions rather than a group decision. We had insisted on coming here after reading rave reviews about this restaurant and its signature dish "Curry Crab" from forums and other visitors. The others in the group merely tagged along so not to disappoint us.
Forums and websites had warned us about Somboon's expensive prices but nothing in the world could prepare us for these exorbitant prices.
The prices here are meant for kings and not paupers. Clearly this restaurant was setup with the intention of cutting the throats of unknowing tourists. And to think I had previously considered myself a shrewd traveller .... haha.
Tom Yum GoongImitate Signature Dish - Curry CrabIn the end we rather reluctantly ordered Tom Yum Goong and Curry Crab. That's 1 bowl of Tom Yum Goong and a small plate of Curry Crab to be shared between 6 adults.
It was the most pathetic meal we've ever had. Haha. I can't really recall how much the final bill came to, but I think each person had to pay about 300Baht if i'm not mistaken.
The Curry Crab wasn't half bad for a imitate version of Somboon. *sigh* It was just too little to go around.
Ocean 6 - Not the conman but the connedThis is the forced smile of the 6, with me trying to raise the plate of Curry Crab to make the picture look more pleasant. Believe me, it was really hard to crack a smile knowing this meal's gonna crack a major dent in our shopping budget.
Actually the worst aspect of the whole experience isn't the ridiculously inflated prices of the seafood. It is the fact that after paying so much for a meal, we still didn't know that we've been conned.
In our minds we still thought that we were at "Somboon Seafood Restaurant".
How the outside looks likeSo remember folks. If you see a restaurant which resembles this, turn and run away. No matter how good the food is, the price that you'll pay will never be worth it.
Technorati Tags: Bangkok, Food, Somboon, Scam
No comments:
Post a Comment